


What I Didn't Say

by HylianMaria



Series: Conflicts of the Emblem [1]
Category: Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Dancers, Death, F/M, Family Drama, Fire Emblem AU, Nestra, Nohr (Birthright Route), Nohr | Conquest Route, Parallel Universes, Sad, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-09 21:11:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10421847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HylianMaria/pseuds/HylianMaria
Summary: Working Title: "What I Didn't Say"Corrin goes missing into a world that is very similar to her own. Her siblings go looking for her only to find their counter parts experiencing similar situations to theirs and exposing some of their deepest kept secrets.





	1. Missing

"What do you mean she's nowhere to be found? please don't tell me that between the three of you you can't take care of one person!" Laslow paced back and forth.  
"She's known to trick people, even Lord Xander knows-" Jakob tried to defend himself but was quickly interrupted by a third voice.  
"She had help from Leo that time," Xander pointed out.  
"I doesn't matter! Why doesn't anyone know where she is now?" Laslow was shaking.  
"Laslow please stay calm, this isn't like you at all... we'll find her," Peri comforter him.  
"And just where do you suggest we begin looking?' Laslow's voice was brittle.  
"Has anyone talked to her about anything strange over last few days?" Xander asked. 

Jakob felt embarrassed at his own negligence. How could he possibly let something like this slip his mind? he had talked to his liege every day for hours and taken care of every possible thing she needed, why did he not know where she was?  
"Milord," the butler called as Xander walked past him.  
"What is it Jakob?" Xander's stoic expression never got old.  
"I'd like to apologize for using you to justify my incompetence. It was wrong of me to do so, and as much as i hate to admit it, Laslow is right to doubt my competence."  
"No, don't worry about it," Xander reassured him, "we've all seen how dedicated you are to my sister, the truth is you are right, she is known to trick people into not following, or following her on her crazy adventures. The issue now is that everyone is arguing over it when we should all be working together to figure out where she went."  
"Is there a possibility that she may be in Hoshido?" Jakob asked after a short pause.  
"'I'm sure Kaze would know if she was."  
"Jakob, Lord Xander!" Peri called from inside the mess hall.

In the Mess Hall Leo stood in front on a decent sized crowd, he was holding a piece of paper and Elise was standing next to him.  
"Big brother!" Elise greeted Xander, "Look at what Leo found!"  
"There is one portal we have never gone through." Leo began, "I have a feeling that based on what we know about it, Corrin might have gone there."  
"You mean the Dragon's Gate?" Flora asked.  
"Yes that is what i'm talking about. Before Lilith died, Corrin had mentioned visiting this place with us. Of course, many of us advised against it. i just realized it's still open, so my theory is that our sister went through it."  
"You're saying she went to a parallel Nohr?" Xander's worry began to show.  
"At least that gives us a place to look, Laslow commented.  
"How com so many of you know about this and we don't?" felicia asked.  
"We all knew about the parallel world. We don't know that it is, but it looks very similar. If you forgot about it that is not our fault." Jakob answered.  
"There is no need to be rude!" Felicia protested.  
"Then we must all go at once!" Kaze said, paying no attention to the ongoing argument.  
"I don't think a large group is a good idea," Xander gave his opinion, " I say only a few of us go, it'd be safer that way."  
"Then count me in!" Camilla exclaimed, "I need to find my dear sister."  
"i want to go to!" Elise volunteered.  
"It's clear that everyone wants to go," Leo said, "but if we are to have only a small group go on this expedition, we should put one together based on skills and abilities rather than desire to find Corrin."  
"Well, i'm a healer, so I can help whoever gets hurt!" Elise beamed.  
"My siblings and I will go looking for her, as well as Kaze and Jakob." Xander announced, "we'll be taking our retainers, I think that will suffice."  
all the people involved nodded in agreement.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This place looks exactly like Windmire," Elise commented as they walked down an alleyway.  
"We need to keep our guard, there is a possibility we may not be welcomed," Xander advised.  
"Why not? we're royals of Nohr!" Elise clapped her hands together.  
"We could easily be accused of being impostors, it's better to not risk anything." Leo told her.  
"I mean, that is a good point, but then how do you suggest we disguise ourselves?" Camilla asked.  
"I can help with that," Niles offered, "i can go see if the places i would frequent in our world for these things exist here and get something."  
"Please do," Leo said.  
"In the mean time Beruka can watch our back," Camilla suggested, the quiet assassin simply nodded in agreement. 

A few moments later Niles and Beruka were escorting the group down another alley into an underground shop.  
"Do these exist back home?" Xander asked,  
"They do," Niles informed him.  
"I hope that now that I'm king people won't feel like they have to hide.  
"That might be hard, people are costumed to living this way now, you would have to offer them very good ins times to get them to come up," Niles commented.  
"It doesn't help that a lot of the slums are above ground, so it's simply safer to stay under." Beruka added.  
"You have a lot of things to change brother," Leo said as they entered the shop.

"Nice to see you Zero!" the shop keeper greeted the outlaw with glee.  
"Nice to see you too," Niles kept the name the girl had called him by fresh in his mind.  
"Who are your friends?" an older woman asked, "Princess Elise came in asking for some outfits, but she failed to tell me you were coming," the woman had a flirtatious air to her.  
"I think the butler and maid outfits will do," Niles continued.  
"Glad to be of help," the older woman said, "but you still haven't introduced your friends. How am I supposed to know what fits them if they don't come over here for measurements?"  
"They're for me!" Elise came closer, almost crashing into Niles, "I'll pick them!"  
"Are you sure?" the young girl asked.  
"Positive!"  


"That was close!" Elise sighed with relief.  
"Next time don't make us walk into places where we might stand out," Leo hissed.  
"You look so cute in that butler outfit and that face you make!" Camilla teased him,  
Leo simply grumbled and looked the other way.  
"Now what?" Xander asked.  
"Niles got some wigs we can put on, once we have everything we should be able to walk around freely." Beruka said handing out brunette wigs.  
"You guys are the best!" Elise smiled and put on a long brunette wig.  
"You look very pretty with curls," Camilla complimented her.  
"And you look great with brown hair!" the young princess said without hesitation.  
"Ok so now we go to the underground Windmre," Niles suggested, "It's the most likely place you would find an average person n Nohr. only aristocrats and thugs hang out up there," he pointed at the ceiling.  
"That sounds ironic," Xander said. "A lot of things in Nohr are," Niles answered. 

"Any luck?" Xander asked as he came across Elise at once corner. "no, I asked a caricaturist to draw her for me and used the picture to show people but no one has seen her!" Elise held up the drawing.  
"That's a wonderful idea!" Xander complimented his sister.  
"I wonder how everyone else is doing, I asked Elfie and Arthur to come back to me if they found something but I can't even find them now." Elise looked around.  
"These outfits feel great, so much lighter than what i normally wear," Elfie said as she came around the same corner Xander had come from.  
"You should be a maid then," Arthur laughed,  
"Nonsense, these skimpy dresses could never protect me from an enemy's spear!" Elfie shouted,  
"quiet you too!" Elise urged them.  
"Milady, I am sorry we did not see you there, I-" Arthur was fixing his pose to address the princess properly but his foot missed the edge of the wooden floor and he fell sideways into the water.  
"Arthur are you ok?" Elise leaned over the edge as Elfie puled him out. "You can't even move one step without getting in trouble!"Elfie puled him ut with ease and Xander watched in awe.  
"I'm guessing you two couldn't find anything." Xander said after a short pause.  
"I regret to inform you that we did not," a shivering Arthur said. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corrin walked along the outer wall of the northern fortress. She was surprised that no one had come around to tell her to go away. She pulled her hood over her head and continued walking until she found a large gate. She recognized this gate, it was the main entrance to the fortress, the one her siblings used. "this place is exactly like home," she whispered to herself as she walked through the large bars. "Why is no one guarding it?"  
The princess made her way through the stables and found that only a few people were tending to the horses. She proceeded with caution, making sure she wouldn't be seen by any one until she found an entrance to the tower. Inside, the halls were desolate and a few candles on the corridor were burned out. She moved slowly through the halls and made her way to what was supposed to be her bedroom. On the way she could hear a familiar voice in the distance.  
"I'm so happy for lord kamui!" Felicia said, her voice was coming form inside the bedroom.  
"Yes, he will finally be able to leave the fortress and see the world!" Flora answered her.  
"It's not like he hasn't seen it before, but you know, he'l never have to come back here again, hopefully," Felicia said.  
"Oh don't remind me about that one time, I got in so much trouble for not saying where you went." Flora said.  
"I'm sorry sister!" the room went silent for a moment.  


Corrin deduced that the two maids must have been talking about the time she went to see the shooting stars a few years back. Leo and Flora had been the most influential people in making sure the plan worked. Even though it had gone wrong and she had fallen into the water with Felicia and gotten lost, the princess was glad she had experienced that day. She continued listening to the two maids while hiding in a small alcove, it was a blessing that this place looked exactly like her own home. The two maids were reminiscing of the years spent with Lord Kamui, Corrin was curious to see this Lord Kamui as she could already tell he was her counter part in this strange place, but where was he now? Could it be that dreadful moment in her life where Garon had asked her to come back to Krakenburg? it had to be.


	2. Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group decides to search for the parallel Nohr's version of Elise. Upon arriving at the princess's quarters in the royal villa, they are reunited with Corrin who informs them that getting out of Windmire won't be that easy. as they look into ways of getting out of the capital safely, they learn of a person whose existence might be problematic for some of them.

Corrin waited until the maids were gone and entered the room. The bedroom looked exactly the same as her own, the only difference was the clothes in the closet. She could hear an unfamiliar voice coming from outside one of the windows.   
"Are you all set?" the girl asked. Corrin moved close to the window and peaked through the thin curtain. At the bottom, she could see Gunter and Felicia speaking to what looked like a Dark Flyer.  
"Thank you very much for escorting us to the castle princess Elke, you didn't have to," Felicia said.   
"It's nothing," the girl chuckled, "no one else wanted to do it and it gave me an excuse to fly around so..." The girl hopped on her black pegasus and flew around the tower as Gunter and Felicia moved towards the main gate. 

Corin's eyes followed the stranger as she flew around, always being careful not to be seen from the outside. The flyer had golden hair that flew freely behind her as she moved  around the tower. She had a thin ribbon on the back of her head that held three braids together. Corrin watched the girl as she turned to face the window, she could now see her face, this stranger bore a striking resemblance to Sakura, it was as if this girl was an older, blonde Sakura with long hair. Corin's heart skipped a beat when she realized how close the girl was to the window.  
_Oh no!_  
Corrin ran to the nearest corner and watched the opposite window closely until she saw the pegasus again, this time, it was flying away towards castle Krakenburg.   
"That stranger is a princess of Nohr, I've never seen her face in my world, could it be that different children survived the concubine conflict?" Corrin said to herself as she made her way out of the room.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think that finding lady Corrin is going to be harder than we anticipated," Jakob commented as they made their way back to the surface.   
"What if we find the other me and ask her for help?" Elise suggested.  
"We would have to go back down there and through the tunnel," Camilla said.   
"That may be safer than up here anyway," Beruka said.  
"How can we find princess Elise?" Selena asked.   
"Do we know anything about the current time in this world?" Jakob asked.  
"Yes, Niles and I dug out some information and today is the day that the sheltered prince nobody has seen gets escorted to the castle. When we came up to the surface to see him, we saw a dark flyer patrolling the Windmire skies, we should watch out for them when we are up here." Beruka said.  
"Do you think they're hostile?" Elise asked, "they were probably just asked to escort Kamui safely to the palace."  
"So Corrin is a prince in this world?" Xander asked.  
"Yes," Niles said, "everyone we asked about this said it was a prince."  
"Exciting!" Elise exclaimed.   
"Anyway, we should make our way to the castle and find the other Elise," Camilla said, "we just need to know where to look for her!" Camilla shot a curious glance towards her younger sister. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elise made her way to the villa where she had told Effie to wait for her with a pot of tea. She skipped gleefully towards her quarters when she was intercepted by a hooded figure.   
"Um...hello?" Elise was cautious.   
"Don't worry, i mean no harm," Elise could tell it was a woman speaking.   
"Who are you?" the princess asked, she took two steps away from the stranger.  
"My name is Corrin, you must be Elise," the strange removed her hood.  
"Yeah I am, but I don't know who you are," Elise said.   
"If I may, I would like to speak to you somewhere more private," Corrin said, "I understand if you don't trust me, I just... I was really hoping you would be able to help me."  
  
"So you are big brother Kamui from another world?" Elise asked.  
"I'm having trouble believing you," Effie said.  
"Effie I swear I mean your liege no harm!" Corrin said removing her cloak, pouch and sword, "you ca carry my belongings out as you escort me if you want, I have no reason to hurt princess Elise." Corrin said.  
"That's a nice blade," Elise commented as she picked it up.  
"It's a sacred weapon from my world called the Shadow Yato," Corrin informed her, "I would let you keep it if i could Effie but I'm afraid it was entrusted to me for a reason."  
"Oh like my big brothers' sacred weapons!" Elise said,  
"Yes,"   
"But father gave Kamui a different sword today, I forgot what he called it."  
"Ganglari," Corrin said and immediately regretted it.   
"Yeah that! Wow you really do know!" Elise said.   
"How come you don't have Ganglari?" Effie asked.   
"I uh... I was given this after, it's.... I went to see someone...." Corrin tapped her foot lightly on the carpet as she searched for the right words to say.  
"Was it someone important like the legendary rainbow sage?" Elise asked.  
"Yes it was him," Corin said.  
"Then why could't you say that before?" Effie asked.  
"I wasn't sure if you had heard of him or not," Corrin said.  
"It's alright Effie, I feel like I can trust her," Elise said.   
The princess went to pour more tea from the pot when there was a light knock on the door.   
  
"Princess Elise?" Effie asked, holding the door open to a very familiar looking maid.   
"Corrin!" the maid at the door exclaimed with excitement and ran past Effie into the room.  
"Elise where are your manners?" Camilla said from outside.   
"Wait there is another one of me?" the princess put down the cup of tea and went to the door, "Who are all of you?"  
"They are my siblings from the other world," Corrin told her, "I'm sorry everyone."  
"I'm so confused," Effie moved out of the way to let the others inside, she noticed another one of her walk through. 

"this is all my fault, I came here without telling them and now we are all trapped here." Corrin said.  
"Have you tried getting out?" Leo asked.   
"She came to see me because she needed help doing that, she said security is too tight, and there is a barrier," Elise said.  
"Probably a fake barrier," Leo said.   
"No, Father, I mean the king had a barrier placed in case Corrin-Kamui tried to escape on his way tot he castle," Xander said.  
Leo looked at him with disgust, "you mean Iago did it."  
"Most likely, yes," Xander said.   
  
"So, how exactly can princess Elise help us get out of Windmire now?" Selena asked.  
"Well I myself can't, but i know people who can!" the princess beamed.   
"Who would you ask Princess Elise?" Effie asked her liege.  
"Well I thought maybe Leon, but he might still be in a bad mood..." the girl placed her hand under her chin.   
"If I knew how to get us out of this situation I wold have done it already," Leo said.  
"Yes, but it's not you we are talking about here darling, it's almost you, but not quite," Camilla said.   
The two Elises giggled, "If big sister Elke was here she would be making burn jokes," the one dressed as a princess said.   
"Lord Leo must not like her very much then," Niles said.   
"On the contrary, they are very close," Elise informed them.  
  
Something about that piece of information didn't sit well with Leo. he made a mental note to keep a close eye on whoever this Elke was.   
"Can she help them?" Effie asked.  
"Possibly, you know what Effie that's a good idea, can you get her for me?" Elise asked and the retainer left promptly.   
"So who are you?" the princess asked a she sat in front of Camilla.  
"I'm your older sister Camilla of course," Camilla gave her a warm smile.   
"Isn't she beautiful?" maid Elise asked.  
"Well, yes, but, I don;t have a big sister Camilla," Princess Elise said.  
Corrin watched the two princesses closely and noticed that the one from this world didn't have purple strands on her hair.   
  
Camilla felt a sudden wave of fear going through her. Did the siblings in this world have a doting sister like her? if not, who protected them? who gave them advice? who helped them hide the things they've done from Xander or even their father? her fear only intensified when she began to wonder why her counterpart wasn't there. Had she been there before and killed by someone else, or was she simply never born?  
"I'm sorry, did I upset you?" princess Elise asked.  
"No, but, is your sister doting and protective of you?" Camila asked, she could hear Leo sighing in the background.  
"I mean, she's protective if she needs to be... I don't know what you mean."  
Camilla felt a sudden desire to meet this girl and tell her to care more about her siblings. She had taken it upon herself to give her a good talking to when they met.   
  
"lady Elise," Effie said as she walked into the room.  
"Did you find her?" Elise asked.  
"I told her what was going on and she said to meet her by the eastern tower at ten," Effie informed.  
"She agreed to do this without meeting us first?" Leo was skeptical.  
"What did you tell her?" princess Elise asked her retainer.  
"I said that you needed to see her urgently. she said she couldn't right now and asked why you needed her, since you've always trusted her with everything i..." Effie lowered her head, "I am sorry milady,"  
"No, it's fine," Princess Elise smiled and gave the knight a pat on the head, "what's important is that she said to meet her, that's something."  
"What if she has her retainers kill us?" Niles asked.   
"Margot and Belka would never do that unless my sister told them to," Elise said.  
"Belka?" Camilla asked.  
Princess Elise gestured at Beruka.  
_So she even has one of my retainers, I wonder if they met the same way too_. Camilla thought.  
  
"Who who are your siblings princess Elise?" Xander asked after a short moment of silence.   
"Well the oldest is Marx, he looks and sounds just like you, then there is Kamui, then Leon, then Elke, Alain, and lastly, me," Elise smiled, "Elke and Alain have the same mother."  
"Are they twins?" Corrin asked.  
"Yes, their mother was a noble from Nestra. The story goes that father met her during one of his visits to Cyrkensia."  
"Was she a dancer?" Corrin asked, thinking of Azura.  
"No, the only reason why she was there was to see the shows."  
"I'm sorry that I don't have anything to say about you princess-Camilla-from-another-world," Elise looked disappointed.  
"It's alright."  
  
"Do you think she knows anything about Azura?" Corrin asked Camilla when they stepped outside.  
"I mean she probably knows as much as the rest of them," Camilla said.  
"But this girl Elke, she's very close to Azura in that their mothers were both from Nestra and brought to live here, only difference is Azura was taken to Hoshido, this girl was born here." Corrin said.  
"What are you thinking Corrin?" Camilla was curious.  
"Well, this world has no Camilla, it is possible that there is no Azura as well, what if this girl is both?" Corrin scanned the surrounding area, "It's almost like home."  
"I feel like that would be too grand for her. Let's wait till we meet her, shall we?" Camilla hugged Corrin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Margot is a possible name for a Nohrian capture unit. all you need to know about her is that she is a second retainer, not really important to the story. Her class, weapons and appearance can be whatever you want. 
> 
> Why is Camilla gone form this world? because this forces her to think about the importance of her role. Camilla is a character that is very into family roles and this can be seen in her supports with her siblings. She feels so comfortable and secure in her own role of doting older sister that it never occurred to her what it would be like if she wasn't there. Now she gets a chance to see that. It makes her really scared too, and you will see why.
> 
> Why Leo is on edge with Elke and how close she is to his counterpart? Well, I think most people know by now that leo had a thing for Camilla. He knows that it was wrong so he never acted on it, but he doesn't know what his counterpart did. No camilla only left this Elke person as a threat to his good name, so he's actually praying that his counterpart was as morally correct as he is.
> 
> Elke is from Nestra because I wanted to write about a place that isn't really mentioned too much in any of the routes. She actually has very little to do with Azura and what Camilla said is true, she has very little talent compared to her. I was originally intending to make her from Cheve, but i couldn't think of Garon finding mistresses in Cheve and not killing Elke after they rebel against him.


	3. Choices

Effie and Elise moved carefully through the desolate Windmire streets as they approached the Eastern Tower.   
"I don't think I'v ever been to this part of the capital," Corrin said.   
"There is nothing to do here and I can't think of an exit nearby that wouldn't be guarded," Xander said.   
"And yet there are no guards around here," Leo said.  
"You spoke too son," A familiar voice said as a woman walked past him and gestured for them to follow her.  
"Beruka," Camilla said.   
"Is this everyone princess Elise?" the blue haired woman asked.  
"Hi Belka, yes, yes it's all of us," Elise said as they turned the corner of the Eastern Tower. 

Standing directly beneath the tower was the blonde pegasus rider from before. Corrin held on to Laslow even though she knew the girl couldn't have seen her before.  
"What's wrong?" Laslow asked softly as they approached her.  
"She's the dark flyer I saw around the Northern Fortress,"   
"She looks familiar," Kaze commented.   
"Doesn't she look like Sakura to you?" Corrin asked.  
"I... cannot say, but she does look familiar," Kaze said.  
Corrin nodded but wondered why she was the only one who thought this girl looked like her youngest sister. The truth was that after the war, Corrin couldn't get Sakura out of her mind, Maslow was the only one who knew how she would even have nightmares some nights.  
"I see her," Corrin whispered in Maslow's ear, the man looked at her with puzzled eyes.  
"See who?" he asked.  
"Doesn't she look like Sakura to you?" Corrin asked him.  
Maslow focused his eyes on the girl as he moved closer to her, trying to find the resemblance, there was barely any. "I'm afraid i don't see it."  
Corrin sighed and dismissed the idea for the time being. 

"So you really weren't lying when you said they looked familiar," the dark flyer said, her voice was calm.  
"No milady," Effie said.   
"Elise how did these people find you?" Elke asked.  
"Well first I was walking back to my quarters when Corrin found me, then about two hours ago, the rest showed up," Elise said casually.  
"We should tell prince Marx to tighten the security around here," Margot said.  
"No, that would be bad, If he does that people will be even more afraid," Elke said.  
"Princess Elise told us you could help us find a way out of here," Leo said.  
"I found one for you, but you're not gonna like it," Elke said.  
"Is it the words of the Forlorn?" Jakob asked, "I hate that place."  
"Nope, I won't send you that way unless you want to run into Leon," Elke said.  
"Why would he be there?" Princess Elise asked.  
"Because Margot told him you and I went there," Elke and Elise laughed.   
Princess Elise turned around to face the party, "I told you she's great!"   
"That goes without saying, I don't want you to ask me for this kind of help again. He will find out that I lied to him, and if he does fall for it, his pride will never be fixed," Elke said as she turned into an alley.   
Leo thought of how angry he would be if he was played for a fool. He simply nodded when Corrin looked at him. 

As they reached the end of the alley Elke turned around and sent her retainers back to guard the corner, "this is it."  
"But there is nothing here," Xander said.  
Elke knelt down and cast an unfamiliar spell on the the tiles between her and the wall to reveal a staircase going down.  
'What is this place?" Xander asked loudly, "I'm the crown prince of Nohr and I am not aware of such a place existing. What about you Leo?"  
Leo shook his head and watched the dark flyer.   
"The tunnel down there is safe," she said and stepped aside so that they could go through. "It leads straight to the Demon's Falls. If you truly are who you say you are, you should have no trouble using the Dragon Vein to get across. I did say you wouldn't like it, but since I cut out your exist through the Forlorn, this is your only other choice."  
"Couldn't you have said you and Elise were going here and sent us through the Forlorn?" Corrin asked.  
"No one ever goes to the Demon's Falls," Leo told her.   
"Exactly," Elke nodded in agreement.  
"I see that your choice is most sound, though it may be the hardest route, it is the easiest if you want to avoid confrontation," Kaze said.  
"I'd rather die fighting this world's Leo than in that hell." Jakob said.  
"No," Corrin said and stepped forward, "I will take the falls, confronting anyone will change the way events take place here, we cannot do that."  
"Are yo from the future or something?" Elke asked.  
"You could say that...yes."  
  
"Thank you for your help," Corrin said and went down the steps.  
"You're welcome, stay safe!" the girl said with a friendly voice.  
The group went into the tunnel and watched Elke seal the entrance again.  
"A passage from the Demon's Falls straight to Windmire... who had that idea?" Camilla asked as they walked down the empty tunnel.   
"Most importantly, how does someone living under Garon's regime know about it?" Xander asked.  
"She seems to get herself in all sorts of trouble," Niles commented, "it is possible she could have fond it by chance."  
"Maybe while trying to hide from you after Lord Leon sent you to get her." Odin said.  
"That may be one of the most sensible things you've said all night," Niles said.  
"Big brother, do you think her big brother will be mad when he finds out she lied?" Elise asked him.  
"What do you think?" Leo answered rhetorically.  
"But it was a good deed!" Elise insisted.  
"I think he'd still be mad since she still played him for a fool," Camilla told Elise. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How did you know about this place big Sis?" Princess Elise asked.  
"I found it by accident when I first learned the reveal spell," Elke said.  
"Leon taught you that right?" Elise asked.  
"Elke nodded and made her way to the end of the alley where her retainers stood.   
  
"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice said from one of the rooftops.   
"Zero!" Elise and Elke both froze.  
"Margot I thought you were old enough to know that lying is wrong," he said as he made his way down.  
"I was following orders," Margot pointed at Elke.  
"You're supposed to be my retainer not the person to throw me in the water Margot!" Elke hissed.  
"It doesn't matter," a second male voice from the opposite side, "What were you doing?" Leon stood blocking their exit.   
"Big brother we..." Elise held on to her sister's arm.  
"We were taking a perfectly safe midnight stroll through the city, I trust Belka and Margot with my life and I know we are safe, so you have nothing to worry about."  
Leon said nothing.  
"Look at the beautiful moon! you don't get this kinda light during the day, I wanted Elise to be here with me because she never does anything like this!" Elke continued.  
Leon turned around and gestured for his retainer to follow him. Though he said nothing, both Elke and Elise knew that he was not satisfied with that answer. 

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"This is hell on earth!" Corrin exclaimed.  
"It's pretty bad that this was our only way out," Kaze said.  
"This was't our only way out, but it was the only one that meant getting out without being seen," Xander said.   
"The only thing left is to go to the place where the portal opened and head back home," Jakob said.   
"No," Corrin said, "I was thinking that I want to stay."  
"Sister," Leo objected, "you are out of your mind."  
"I'm gonna have to agree," Laslow said.  
"Everyone," Corrin tried to explain her reasoning but was soon interrupted by Xander.  
"I've had enough of this. First you leave without warning, now you want to stay in this strange world despite the person who helped us escape unscathed telling you that the next time you meet it won't be like that."  
"Xander, that girl never said she would hurt Corrin," Camilla pointed out.  
"She said she wouldn't lie for her sake, you think that if we found people claiming to be versions of ourselves, we would just accept it and let them go just like that? that girl helped Elise because she knew it wouldn't end well for us if anyone else found out," Xander said.  
"Lord Xander is right, something about this was too easy," Selena said.  
"You think THIS is easy?" Jakob gestured at the lava surrounding them.  
"Most people in Nohr know about this place and would never dare to set foot here, I can't say i blame her for suggesting it if not being seen was our priority," Kaze said.  
"As I was saying," Corrin cleared her throat.   
  
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"I heard about what happened last night," Elke approached her brother with a cup of tea on her hand.   
"The Hoshidans took Kamui," Marx said with anger.  
"i don't know Marx, can you really be mad?" Elke asked with hesitation.  
"Are you not upset that the enemy took our brother from us?" Marx's voice echoed against the walls.   
"I'm sorry I just..."Elke lowered her head and walked away without saying another word.   
This was the reason why she could never be close to Marx, it was so hard to ask him about anything without him being so condescending. There were times when he had been kind to her, and shielded her from many conflicts happening around her, but everything having to do with Kamui always put him on edge. 

Elke wondered what would happen now that Kamui was gone. She never really understood why he had to be isolated from everyone else, and never thought it was fair. Normally she would have gone to Leon and asked him about this, or simply tell him how she was feeling, but she feared he would question her about the night before, maybe even suspect that she might have had something to do with it. Everyone seemed so anxious over Kamui's kidnapping that the castle almost felt like it had been torn by war. Her mind kept going back to the day when Aqua had been taken from the castle and she wondered if everyone had reacted the same way, she was so young back then that she hadn't noticed anything.

Elke and Aqua used to sing together sometimes.   
While everyone else was busy listening to their power hungry mothers tell them to be hostile towards the new girl, Elke made an effort to be close. She would sneak around the castle at the times when she knew everyone was busiest just to see her. Of course, there had been many times when she had been caught and punished for it. It was worth it, she would tell herself afterwards, everything was worth it for Aqua and Leon. 

Elke had hated Leon at first. He was the perfect child, he never wavered, he never did anything wrong. He made everything look so easy that the girl felt easily discouraged from trying anything he had already done. She wanted to find the thing he couldn't do, and excel at it, simply so she could say she was better than him at something, but her views changed after one night. She was sneaking around the castle in search of more hidden passages to add to her map, she always wanted to draw maps and know all her tunnels and exits in case of a siege, she knew her father would be proud of that somehow. She came across a sobbing young Leon who hid in one of the alcoves near where Aqua used to live.   
"Why can't I have that?" he whispered and Elke simply waited there and listened.  
"it seems like her mother doesn't want anything, just her children, why can't mother be like that?"   
_Is he talking about me or Camilla?_   Elke wondered. She made a note to remind herself that Leon had a vulnerable side, yet the more she thought about it, the less satisfying it was. 

Elke sighed and thought of how the last years of her life had been. her and her brother had drifted apart after the death of their mother. She had chosen to be closer to Leon and her brother strived to be a carbon copy of Marx. The two still spoke of course, but they weren't really as close as one would expect twins to be. She watched the bridges carefully and spotted Zero walking towards her.   
"Princess Elke," he said as came near her.  
"Good morning Zero," Elke had a blank expression on her face.   
"You look happy," he said and stood close to her.  
"I always thought your perception of emotion was distorted, guess I wasn't wrong," Elke looked away from him.  
"Lord Leon sent you another message," he chuckled.   
"What does he want now?" Elke sighed.  
"To talk to you about Lord Kamui," Zero told her, "He thinks you might need to."

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"Phew, I thought we would never make it out of there alive!" Corrin sighed with relief.  
"So now that we are well rested, and not dying of a heat stroke, care to explain why you want to stay Lady Corrin?" jakob asked.  
"i want to see what decision my counterpart will make," Corirn said.  
"There is only one logical choice," Elise said with a smile.  
"Do you still have doubts about the choices you made little princess?" Xander asked her.   
"I can't say i don't," Corrin admitted.   
"i am glad you chose Nohr," Laslow said to her, "but if want to see what it would be like if you had chosen differently, then I will stay with you. I know his has been troubling you for quite some time now so..."  
"Laslow!" Corrin was surprised, "you would do that despite my brother's orders?"  
"It is true that I am still Lord Xander's retainer, but as your husband, I ought to always be by your side." Laslow said with confidence.   
"if you choose to stay here, I will too," Camilla said and her retainers nodded in agreement.   
"And how do you all  plan to do that without being seen? Don't tell me we just went through all this trouble to go and surrender ourselves to the Hoshidans just to be near Kamui," Leo was serious. 

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End file.
